# Identifying vagal sensory neurons responsible for chemosensation in the gut

> **NIH NIH SC2** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO · 2020 · $149,667

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Chemosensory signaling through the vagus nerve is an important component of the gut-brain axis,
relaying information about the presence of nutrients and irritants within the lumen of the gut. Vagal sensory
neurons transmit these signals from the gut to the brainstem, activating neural circuits to modulate the rate of
digestion, or trigger emesis or diarrhea. Although the physiology of this circuit has been studied for decades,
only recently have the molecular details of the receptors, cells, and signaling mechanisms begun to be defined.
Pioneering work has identified two specific populations of vagal sensory neurons that play distinct roles for
signaling stretch in the stomach and nutrients in the duodenum. This demonstrates that vagal neurons can
encode sensory information in a labeled-line fashion, ie one line for stretch, one line for nutrients. Apart from
these two specific vagal sensory populations innervating the gut, other populations of neurons responsible for
irritant sensing, or nutrient sensing outside of the duodenum/proximal intestine remain undefined. Basic
information about the repertoire of vagal sensory neurons innervating the gut and the types of information they
encode are lacking. The goal of this proposal is to define the chemosensory circuits for detecting nutrients and
irritants in the gut by addressing the following questions: 1) How is gut nutrient and irritant information encoded
by vagal sensory neurons? 2) Can activity dependent labeling techniques be used for circuit mapping and
molecular characterization of functional subsets of vagal sensory neurons?

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9843154
- **Project number:** 5SC2GM130411-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO
- **Principal Investigator:** LINDSEY J MACPHERSON
- **Activity code:** SC2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $149,667
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9843154

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9843154, Identifying vagal sensory neurons responsible for chemosensation in the gut (5SC2GM130411-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9843154. Licensed CC0.

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